Facebook 'Safety Check' Tells Friends You're OK in a Natural Disaster

With that in mind, Facebook on Wednesday announced Safety Check, a new feature that lets friends and family know you're safe after a natural disaster has occurred. When such an event transpires, Facebook will send you a message asking if you're OK.

Facebook determines your city by your profile. If it gets the city wrong, you can mark that you're outside the affected area.

In a blog post announcing the feature, Facebook cited the 2011 Japanese earthquake as inspiration for the new safety feature. Facebook engineers in Japan created a disaster message board, which morphed into Safety Check.

Facebook's not the only company to consider such a measure. In 2012, Google launched Public Alerts for natural disasters in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

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